RHODODENDRON 



RHODODENDRON 



1521 



tered locations, provided soil conditions are sufficiently 

 favorable to maintain a vigorous and healthy growth. 

 Fertilizers can be applied to Rhododendrons to increase 

 the after-growth, although it is not desirable that they 

 be applied directly to the roots. Stable manure should 

 perhaps never be worked through the soil until it has 

 been allowed to thoroughly weather by being first ap- 

 plied as a mulch on the surface of the ground. Here, 

 again, it is essential that care be taken in working in 

 such fertilizer that it be done in such a manner that 

 the fine, fibrous roots of the Rhododendron which are 

 so close to the surface of the soil be not seriously dis- 

 turbed. It is perhaps better to leave the fertilizer as a 

 mulch on the surface of the ground without attempting 

 to work it generally into the soil. During the winter 

 months a raking of leaves should be worked through 

 the beds to a depth of six inches to a foot, and it is 

 better that the gardener be not over-particular in raking 

 away these leaves in the spring, leaving the bare sur- 

 face of the ground exposed, with the consequent injury 

 to the surface roots of the Rhododendron through 

 drought conditions. Where it is possible to provide a 

 somewhat shaded location with an eastern or northern 

 exposure the Rhododendron will succeed better than 

 under conditions of southern or western exposure. A 

 southern exposure necessitates careful shading of the 

 plants throughout the winter in order to prevent 

 injury from alternate freezing and thawing in the late 

 winter months or by blasting of the flower-buds through 

 too early growth with its consequent injury from late 

 spring frosts. When massed against a background of 

 evergreens the Rhododendron perhaps shows to its best 

 advantage, but with the use of the taller-growing varie- 

 ties they make tall, showy banks of Rhododendrons 

 alone. The greatest cause for disappointment in the 

 use of the imported Rhododendron occurs through lack 

 of discrimination in the selection of varieties and also 

 in the manner of propagation of these varieties. Rho- 

 dodendi'ons grafted on Shododendron PonHctim, a 

 native of southern Europe and Asia Minor, cannot be 

 depended on for best success, as no matter how hardy 

 the top of the plant may be, unless the junctions of the 

 graft are below the surface of the soil so that the stalk 

 itself is protected, nothing but disappointment can 

 result, since the roots of the plant are killed and there 

 is nothing from which the top can draw nourishment. 

 So far as possible varieties must be selected that are 

 either grown from layers or worked on some perfectly 

 hardy stock, such as Rhododendron maximum or JR. 

 Catawhiense. R. Catawbiense and its various forms 

 have constituted the main part of the plants that 

 have been imported, while the R. maxirmim has until 

 lately been practically lost sight of, though the fact 

 remains that for many years R. niaxiimim has con- 

 tributed to the establishment of a class of hardy 

 forms such as the variety Delicatissimum, in which 

 one finds the vigor of growth and size of foliage indica- 

 tive of the Maximum parentage, while the abundance of 

 bloom and color can be traced to that other parent, R. 

 Catawbiense. Some other varieties are in commerce 

 that have had similar hardy parentage, and some seed- 

 lings are known in this country which combine great 

 merits but which up to the present time have not been 

 offered or propagated largely. Among these could be 

 mentioned the variety "James Comley," a seedling 

 originated by James Comley on the estate of Francis B. 

 Hayes, of Lexington, for which the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society awarded a silver medal in 1898. 

 The great objection to the use of Hybrid Rhododendrons 

 has been their cost and the length of time that was 

 necessary to wait for the smaller plants to make satis- 

 factory height for producing landscape effects. Con- 

 sequently, the landscape architects of recent years have 

 sought a variety of Rhododendron that would combine 

 vigor of growth, blooming quality and perfect hardi- 

 ness. Experiments made with collected plants of R. 

 maximum taken from various localities have proved 

 that this plant is practical for such purposes; and the 

 outcome of such experiments has been that such large 

 private estates as those of William Rockefeller, W. L. 

 Elkins, Mrs. Eliot F. Shepard, and others, have very 

 largely been stocked with collected plants of R. maxi- 

 mum, supplied in car-load lots and in sizes ranging 



from 8-foot bushy specimens down to small plants that 

 could be grown on for future flower and foliage effects. 

 These plants are taken from localities where the plants 

 are growing either in the open or under moderate shade 

 conditions and have been pruned by the natural process 

 of fire, resulting in a vigorous growth of a more or less 

 bushy and compact nature and growing in soil of suffi- 

 cient richness to assure their digging with a large 

 amount of clinging earth. With proper care in trans- 

 portation and after-cultivation the results show a sur- 

 prisingly small loss of plants. Plants collected under 

 these ideal conditions give entirely satisfactory results, 

 but so far as these conditions of careful digging, pack- 

 ing, transportation and after-culture are violated, the 

 results are correspondingly less satisfactory. 



The areas from which the plants can be collected 

 under the conditions mentioned above are very re- 

 stricted and soon become exhausted of the plants. 

 There seems to be no limit to the size of the plants 

 that can be transplanted with success, as broad masses 

 12 feet high and as much in diameter frequently are 

 moved and show practically no set-back in the trans- 

 planting. J. Woodward Manning. 



INDEX. 



For many other names, see supplementary list. 



Beruginosum, 10. fragrans, 5. ovatum, 16. 



album, 3, 4, 6, 12, Hammondi, 15. Ponticum, 4. 



14 and suppl. hirsutiim, 13. praecox, 20. 



arbutifolium, 15. jasminiflorum, 11. punctatum, 14. 



arboreum, 6. Keiskei, 17. puniceus, 6. 



atrovirens, 19. Kingianum, 6. purpureum, 3. 



azaleoides, 5. limbatum,-6. Purshii, 'S. 



Batemani, 10. maximum, 3, 5. roseo-album, 7. 



brachycarpum, 8. Metternichi, 9. roseum, 3. 



Californieum, 1. minus, 14. sempervirens, 19. 



campanulatum, 10. miicroniilatum, 18. splendens, 7. 



Catawbiense, 2. myrtifolium, 16 and stramineum, 7. 



Caucasieum, 7. suppl. Wallichi, 10. 



cinnamomeiim, 6. Nilagirieum, 6. Washingtonianum, 



Dahurieum, 19. odoratuni, 5. 1. 



daphnoides, 15. olecefolium, 15. Wilsoni, 15. 



fernigineura, 12. ovalifolium, 16. Windsorii, 6. 

 flavidum, 7. 



A. Foliage and ovary not lepidote: 

 buds tvith many imbricate 

 scales, Enrhododendron. 

 B. Lvs. glabrous beneath or only 

 pubescent when young. 

 C. Plants with coriaceous , per- 

 sistent lvs. 



D. Pedicels glabrous 1. Californieum 



DD. Pedice Is pubescent or 

 glandular. 

 E. Under side of lvs. 

 whitish. 

 F. Calyx - lobes much 



shorter than ovary. 2. Catawbiense 

 FP. Calyx-lobes about as 



long as ovary 3. maximum 



EE. Under side of lvs. pale 



green 4. Ponticum 



CC. Plants with lvs. rather thin, 

 falling off the second 



spring, 2-3% in. long 5. azaleoides 



BB. Lvs. tomentose or pubescent 

 beneath. 

 C. Yowng branches and ovary 

 tomentose. 

 D. Shrub attaining 25 ft. in 

 height, or tree becoming 

 40 ft.: plant half-hardy. G. arboreum 

 DD. Shrub, 2-4 ft. high, rarely 

 10 ft. high: plant hardy. 

 E. Corolla 5-lobed, spotted 

 greenish. 

 F. The lvs. acute at both 



ends 7. Caucasicum 



FF. The lvs. obtuse at 



both ends 8. brachycarpum 



9. Mettemichi 

 EE. Corolla 5-7-lobed, spot- 

 ted purple. 

 CC. Young branches , pedicels and 



ovary glabrous 10. campanulatum 



